Residents Storm Arua City Offices Over Urban Cash for Work Funds

More than 250 beneficiaries of the Urban Cash for Work Programme (UCWP) stormed Arua City headquarters Tuesday afternoon protesting the delayed release of funds for the project. 

The affected beneficiaries comprising mainly women, men, and youth, said they have not been able to access the funds to implement the project and yet other cells in the city are completing implementing their projects.

The beneficiaries, who are drawn from Club cell, Kebiri cell, and Jacinto cell, all in Kenya ward, Arua City Central division are demanding Shillings 17.5 million each to implement various projects.  

Mustapha Andama, the LC 1 secretary of Club cell wonders why beneficiaries in Kenya ward have not received their funds, yet the project is coming to an end.

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The angry residents also accused Arua City Central division authorities of forcing them to construct a market shed project in the Club cell, which they say is contrary to what they approved as groups. 

Elias Opi, the LC I chairperson of Jacinto cell choose road maintenance as their project but they were surprised to learn that their project has been changed without their notice.

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According to Summary Ejaga, the LC 2 chairperson of Kenya ward, the beneficiaries decided to storm the offices after repeated pleas to the authorities to intervene in vain.

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It took the intervention of Florence Asianzu, the Deputy Arua City Internal Security officer (CISO) who calmed the residents and promised to follow up on the matter with the city authorities. 

However, Osuga Raul, the speaker of Arua City central division, said although the council had signed a memorandum of understanding with a private land owner it’s not possible to implement the project due to wrangles over the ownership of the disputed market.

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In April last year, 4,200 beneficiaries in Arua central division were selected to benefit from the pilot project funded by the International Labour Organization (ILO) through the Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social Development.

Under the Programme, each of the 50 cells in the division was entitled to receive 17.5 Million Shillings for the implementation of community projects designed to provide short-term labor-intensive employment to poor and vulnerable individuals.

The Urban Cash for Work Programme aims to mitigate the income shock encountered by some of the households in large urban centers as a result of the various measures instituted by the government to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.